In the western Pacific Ocean, a new volcanic island that formed in the shadow of Nishino-shima has merged with it. The island has doubled in size as the eruption continues.
Published Apr 4, 2014
A pair of modest oyster flats turned into two of most important islands in the United States.
Published Mar 20, 2016
This astronaut photograph shows the southern end of Paramushir Island after a snowfall. Four volcanic centers are brightly lit on their western slopes and deeply shadowed to the east.
Published Jul 12, 2010
On September 25, 2002, astronauts aboard the International Space Station viewed Easter Island, one of the most remote locations on Earth. Easter Island is more than 2000 miles from the closest populations on Tahiti and Chile—even more remote than astronauts orbiting at 210 nautical miles above the Earth. Archaeologists believe the island was discovered and colonized by Polynesians at about 400 AD. Subsequently, a unique culture developed. The human population grew to levels that could not be sustained by the island. A civil war resulted, and the island’s deforestation and ecosystem collapse was nearly complete.
Published Oct 6, 2002
Nishinoshima has grown to twelve times its original size.
Published Nov 29, 2015
Acquired on on May 5, 2009, this true-color image shows Marion Island in the Indian Ocean. Sparsely vegetated, this volcanic island has remnants of snow near its summit.
Published Oct 18, 2009
An unnamed isle in Canada’s Nunavut Territory is the leading contender for this island superlative.
Published Feb 22, 2015
The ghostly white shapes northeast and immediately southwest of Wrangel Island are sea ice. Over the course of the satellite record, Arctic sea ice has advanced and retreated past Wrangel Island many times. From 1979 to 2000, the sea ice edge at the end of summer generally fell somewhere in the vicinity of Wrangel Island, but this is not the first summer when the sea ice edge has retreated well north of the island.
Published Aug 29, 2008
